


World Records

by InapplicableBro



Category: Newsies (1992)
Genre: 90's Music, 90s AU, A Love Heptagon (7), Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Boy Band, F/M, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-30
Updated: 2015-05-30
Packaged: 2018-04-01 21:49:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4035796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InapplicableBro/pseuds/InapplicableBro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Welcome to World Records. We'll make you superstars. Just know that your faces, names, and voices belong to us. Pseudo-90s boyband AU. Slash, and I don't mean the guitarist.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Camille Ouvrard**

The sign read. The strawberry blonde contemplated knocking on the door.

"Would ya just do it already!" the tall brunet standing next to her exclaimed.

"What if she's on the phone?" The girl asked nervously.

"If she were on the phone Gina would have made us wait in the lobby, she's your mom, I don't know why you're so scared of her."

"Danny, we've known each other since we were toddlers, you know how my mom is about business…" the redhead shuttered.

"Joey, you're being ridiculous just knock on the door," the boy was starting to get irritated.

"Fine, but if I get my head ripped off it's your fault," Josephine pouted. She really didn't want to talk to her mother. Danny had agreed to come with her because he knew she wouldn't want to do it.

Josie softly knocked on the door to her mother's office.

"Come in!" a very professional voice called from the other side. The teen twisted the knob slowly, opening the door slightly. She peaked into the room. Camille was sitting at her desk typing at her computer. The woman looked up and raised an eyebrow, expectantly. Josie open the door halfway and pull Danny inside the room.

"Um, you wanted to see me?" it was more of a question than a statement.

"You remember who Dee Evans is don't you?" she asked her daughter. Of course she remembered who Dee Evans was. They had hung out all of the time. Plus she was seventeen the few female friends she had were always talking about him. He was everywhere seeing as the T.V. show he starred in, 'McCarthy's Inn', was super popular. "Yeah, I remember him."

"Well 'McCarthy's Inn' is in it's final season and we want to recruit him," she explained. By we she meant Mr. Joseph Pulitzer, owner of World Record.

"What do you mean 'recruit' him?" Danny piped up. He didn't like talking to Ms. Ouvrard, as much as he denied it, he was scared of her.

"She gonna pull the old 'Pick-one-find-four-more' trick," she vaguely explained. Seeing as her mother worked for in the music industry she knew what this meant. She liked to call it the 'Boy Band Initiative'. The idea was to take an already big name like Dee Evans who this case, Josie assumed, would be the Cutie and build a band around them. The term 'band' being used very loosely. There was the 'Heartthrob' or 'Dream-boat'. He was the one who almost all the girls wanted to marry. He was usually the best singer, not necessarily the best dancer, and he was the hottest. Second, there was the aforementioned 'Cutie' or 'Baby-face' he was the baby of the group. They were overshadowed by the Heartthrob, yet the Cutie is the guaranteed ladies man. Next comes the 'Shy One'. He was the one who doesn't talk much during interviews and got the solos the least. Then, came the funny one. He was the one who'd crack the most jokes during an interviews and played harmless pranks on the other members. Finally, came the 'Bad-boy'. He was the one parents didn't approve of. He had tattoos and wore all black when they were allowed the dress as individuals.

Danny obviously didn't know what she meant but decided to ask later.

"Anyway, we would have scouts go to high schools and hold auditions, but Mr. Pulitzer want me to personally do it," Camille continued, "He said he wants it to be special."

"What do I have to do with all of this?" Josephine asked.

"Well, you're a teenage girl you should be able to help me make my decisions, plus, we'll need pictures of the boys during the auditions."

* * *

David and Jack were sitting on David's bed studying for the math test tomorrow.

"I bet she'll say yes this time," Jack said. He'd been trying to get David's sister, Sarah, to go out with him for years to no avail.

"Jack, if she says yes, I'll audition for this boyband thing," Dave chuckled looking up from his text book.

"Well, if she says no I'll try out, and if she says maybe we both have to, deal?"

"Why would we both do it?"

"Because, if she says maybe, there's a fifty-fifty chance she will or won't," Jack explained.

"Fine, deal," David held out his hand. He shook it and got up.

"Wish me luck."

"That'd be stupid, I just bet against you."

Jack made his way down the hallway to Sarah's room and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" she asked as she opened the door.

"I was wondering if you'd want to go out with me next Friday?" He asked rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"You know what Jack, today I'm feeling really good, maybe," and with that, she closed the door.

* * *

"I can't believe we're doing this," David moaned as he sat down to fill out his application.

"You started it, man," Jack didn't want to do this either, but a deal was a deal. "Plus it's not like we really have a chance, there are gonna be thousands of other boys trying out for this. Thousands of other boys who sing, dance, and look better than you," he added smirking slyly.

"Hey!" David yelled throwing his pen at him. A group of girls gave him dirty looks. He blushed and looked down at the table. They were in the library and there were multiple groups of students studying. He looked up again. "Um, Jack, you have an audience."

"What?" the boy turned around. The same group of girls were staring at him intensely. He smiled weakly and they giggled and turn away.

"I don't know why you chase after my sister when you have groupies," Dave mused.

"Dedication, Davey, now let go turn these things in."

packets. He rolled his eyes at the hypocritical comment.

* * *

"Hey Patrick, wait up!" Antonio 'Racetrack' Higgins called after him.

"What's up, Shorty?" He asked turn around to see him running after me carrying two "Those stupid boyband auditions? Can you say 'No' boys and girls?"

"See, I knew you would say that, that's why I got one too," He held up the second one, "I can't sing all that well so it won't really matter."

"Yeah, I don't do boy bands," Spot pulled his shades down, trying to make a point.

"You mean to tell me you don't want to be rich and famous and meet a bunch of hot people who are also rich and famous?" the Italian asked smirking.

"Matching outfits, cheesy lyrics, squeaky clean image, and screaming preteens," he said.

"Every group needs their bad boy," Racetrack pointed out.

"If I fill this out will you shut up?" He sighed

"Most definitely."

  
  



	2. One Condition

"Okay here's the deal, I'll go with you if Danny can come along." I was at home with Mom. I looked totally out of place sitting on the desk in her office. Every thing there was either powder pink or lavender. All of her things were organized according to size and color. Even  _she_ fit in perfectly with the filing cabinets.

"Alright, Daniel can come along," she looked up from her paperwork, "What are you wearing?" she wrinkled her nose.

" _What?"_

"You look like a bum, do want to be a bum?"

"I do not look like a bum, Mom you're exaggerating."

"You do, you also look like a boy, I wish you hadn't have cut your hair like that,and you don't wear any girl colors."

"What are girl colors, Mom?"

"We are not starting this today, now go call Daniel," she said sternly, pointing at the door. I hopped off the desk and threw my hands up in mock-surrender.

"Yes,  _Ms. Ouvrard_ ," I say as I walk out of the door. I have to go down stairs to the kitchen because it's the only other phone in the house besides the one in Mom's office.

I dialed Danny's number.

"Hello?" a feminine voice asked.

"Hi Mrs. Anders, is Danny there?" Mrs. Anders was the mother of three boys. Two of whom were super famous. She cooks homemade meals, and they went on family vacations every year, and they had a family pet. They were closest thing to "normal" I'd ever seen up close.

"Oh, hello dear, wait just a second," she said.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Pack a bag dude, I told my mom that I wouldn't go unless you came with us." I said proudly.

"Was she moved by you strong words, or intimidated by your large size?" Danny jokingly asked. I often stuttered when I got nervous, and even though I was 5'10", I was as skinny as a stick on drugs, if, you know, sticks could do drugs.

"Oh ha-ha, very funny, Dee's coming along too."

"I don't  _like_  him, I don't want to go anymore," Danny whined.

"Why don't you like him, he's a pretty okay guy, you know, for a famous person."

"Okay one, he's a spoiled brat who really needs a good punch in the face, and two, hey, I'm a famous person!"

"Are you coming or not, because if you don't I'll be miserable," I ignored his comment.

"Yeah sure fine, let me ask Ma." Aw, he calls her 'Ma'.

"Alright, I'll talk to you later, Dan."

 


	3. Audition I

"Alright, it's nice to see you again, Mr. Evans," mother said as the aforementioned Mr. Evans got into the limousine. Danny seemed to immediately stiffen at his arrival. Dee was dressed like a stereotypical douche. He was wearing sunglasses, a white button down shirt that was halfway unbuttoned, Levi's, and some very expensive shoe. Mom was wearing the usual business outfit. To say Danny and I were underdressed would be an understatement. We were going for our alternative look, as usual. Flannel, ripped jeans, band t-shirts, ratty Converse. As Mom would say, we looked like bums. It didn't help that I was sporting my signature short, choppy hairstyle.

There was an awkward silence as we all just looked at each other.

"So, uh, Danny, how's the band?" I ask breaking the silence.

"Well, we're working on the collaboration album with The Cindies that I was telling you about," he took a break from glaring at Dee to answer my question. Danny was in this band, Send In the Clones. They were actually pretty good, and they were an organic band, too.

"I almost forgot Daniel was in a band," my mother looked up from here ever-present paperwork.

"Of course you did, you don't follow the career of organics, Mom." This remark earned me a glare. The limo stopped.

* * *

I had just thrown up. I honestly don't know why I made this bet up. Oh, right. I was sure Sarah was going to say no to Jack, but I guess he'd worn her down a bit. I have serious stage fright, and while I don't actually want to accomplish anything here, I'd like to keep my dignity. Jack was nowhere to be seen and I wondered if he was skipping out. No, that wasn't like him. He'd be here.

I was sitting in the main office because i really didn't want to go to the auditorium. An unfamiliar red headed girl walked through the door. She went up to the front desk.

"I'm here to collect the paperwork for W.R."

"Just a second dear," Mrs. Fendrick said going to get whatever it was the girl wanted. The girl walked over and sat next to me.

"Hi," she said in an unexpected raspy voice, giving a little wave.

"Hello," I returned.

"So, you trying out for that boyband thing?" she asked, green eyes shining with curiosity.

"Unfortunately."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I made this bet with a friend of mine," I say looking at the door. I had told Jack to meet me here.

"You lose?" she smirked.

"Sorta," I shrugged my shoulders a little. I could feel the sweat running down my face. The unnamed girl looked at me intensely.

"You okay there, dude?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Just a l-little nervous."

"What are you singing?"

"Uh, 'Cover Girl' New Kids."

"Looks like I'm your guardian angel or something, because I, and you have to promise not to tell anyone this not even my own mother knows, I'm secretly a huge NKOTB fan," she says pulling out a signed New Kids On The Block necklace with a picture of the group out of her pocket. "These signatures are legit, by the way. Why don't you sing the first verse, you can practice on me."

"I don't know…" I started.

"It'll be fine, I'll sing it with you if you want."

I struggle through the first verse with the encouragement of a girl who I'd never met before, and didn't even know the name of.

"Miss, your papers are ready," Mrs. Fendrick called setting a big stack of paper on the counter. The girl got up and turned to me.

"Joey O'Connor," she held out her hand.

"David Jacobs," I shook it. Joey walked over to the desk and grabbed the stack.

"Who's your favorite?" I call out to her as she opens the door.

"What?" I point to her pocket.

"Uh, Joey, duh," she laughs a little and walks out the door. Almost immediately after she walks out of the office Jack walks in.

"Ready, man?" he asked. I get up from the couch I was sitting on.

"Yup."

* * *

"I just talked to this really good-looking blonde," I say to Joey as she sits down in between Dee and me.

"Oh, yeah?" she hands part of the stack of papers to me.

"Yeah, but then the ladies man over there had to interrupt me, and you can guess what happened," I glared at said 'ladies man'.

"Well, I met one of the guys auditioning, he seemed like a nice guy, shy too," she winked.

"Alright let's get started!" Camille exclaimed rubbing her hands together.

"Oh, joy," Dee mumbled, the brat. Joey thumped him on the head. The first fifteen guys were either terrible, or really boring. Luckily, there weren't many people auditioning. We got through a couple more, most were pretty decent, not all that, but decent.

"Number 25, David Jacobs!" Camille announced. Joey seemed to perk up at the name. This must have been the guy she had met while getting the forms. David stepped onto the stage and up to the microphone.

"So, David, do you have any siblings?" Camille asked. The boy looked a little confused, but answered the question anyway

"Yeah, an older sister, Sarah, and a younger brother, his name's Les." She went on to ask him all of her irrelevant questions and then he sang 'Cover Girl' by New Kids On The Block. I looked over at Joey. Though she didn't know it, I knew she really liked New Kids, as much as she tried to hide it. After he was done and was about to walk off the stage she called out,

"Hey, who's your favorite?" David looked at her and smiled broadly.

"Uh, Joey, duh," he answered. I didn't know what it was all about so I just shrugged my shoulders a little, not bothering to ask. When we got done the two highest scores were David and another kid named Jack Kelly.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Check out Cover Girl by New Kids On The Block  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2YTDh7sHx8


	4. Audition II

"I'm going to kill you when this is over," Patrick said to me as we waited backstage. It had been easier to get him to fill out the application than I expected. The hard part was getting him to hand it in. I ended up stealing it from it and turning it in myself.

"No you won't, you'll thank me because I'll be the reason you're a millionaire," I put my arm around his shoulder, only to have him shrug it off.

"Yeah, I highly doubt that," Patrick grumbled adjusting his jacket even though I hadn't messed it up.

"Number 12, Patrick Conlon!"

"Good luck, man!"

"Shut up."

Sometimes I wondered why I put up with him. Patrick's not exactly the most positive guy in the world. He's never been the one to tell you everything would be okay. I didn't blame him. We both had a pretty rough childhood. The only reason I wanted him to do this was because he's a really good singer and at least one of us deserved to get out of here. If it meant forcing him to audition for a boy band then, hell, that's what I going to do.

From what I can tell his audition went well. When he got back he glared at me intensely. Honestly I'm surprised he knows how to smile, sometimes. His face was always switched to "Fuck You" mode. Although there were those special occasions where he'd react to something funny.

"So, would you like me to kick your ass now or after you go on stage?" he asked me, raising an eyebrow.

"You know, I'm starting to regret this whole thing, maybe you shouldn't get millions of dollars and the choice of any girl you want."

"Look Higgins, I don't know what it is with you always trying to help me," Patrick looked like he wanted to punch me. He didn't like getting help from anyone. He thought it made him look weak.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend, Conlon," I replied getting up from my seat. There weren't that many people there, so there was a big gap in the alphabet.

"Well, stop it, it's starting to piss me off," and with that he walked off. It's hard being a good person.

* * *

"They all sound bad to me."

"Of course they do, Dee," Josie turned to me with a look of annoyance on her face. We were half way done with auditions today and I was tired of them. I didn't want to be here in the first place.

"We're almost done, just a couple more auditions and we can all go home," Camille sighed and rubbed her eyes. Danny just glared at me. He didn't like me. I think it has something to do with me sleeping with his girlfriend.

"Number 17, Tony Higgins!"

_Ugh!_

That Tony guy was okay, I guess. Josie and Danny seemed to like him a lot, Camille seemed indifferent about his singing and was more focused on his personality.

"He's to ethnic."

"Mom, what does that mean?" Josie gave her mother a look that seemed to be a mix of confusion and disgust.

"I mean his family seems too, traditionally Italian, that could scare people off," she explains. Even I couldn't understand where she was coming from.

Who, exactly, would be scared off by that?" I asked.

"Girls raised in a traditionally Italian household," she said shuffling through her paper. Maybe it's because I'm not Italian, but I still didn't get it. I looked over at Josephine and Danny waiting for a smart-aleck remark from one of them.

"Majority rule, Dee, what do you think?" the redhead asked me. I had to do a double take. She hadn't really  _talked_ to me since we were about eleven. I blinked a couple of times.

"Well, I guess he's good, I mean, it wouldn't be too bad to have someone like him in the group, so yeah, I'll vote for him."

"See, I knew he was going to… wait  _what_?" Danny looked at me, bewildered.

"Good decision, pretty boy."

While I could have been insulted by the obvious mocking I was too busy wondering if her smirk was sexy, or really sexy.

_Where the hell did that come from?_

"Fine, you do realize that if this backfires, I'll be held responsible for it."

"Who says it's going to backfire?"

I was actually starting to like her.

 


	5. World Record Interview I

**_The World_ **

**_Bringing you the latest news from the biggest stars!_ **

As sad as we are to hear about  _McCarthy's Inn_  ending, we also have something to be happy about. Dee Evans who placed Snitch is in a band! We recently sat down with the young star get the details.

"Well, we've only been working together for a couple of weeks now. It's funny, actually. When we all got together after final cuts and stuff I realized I was like, the odd man out or something. Jack Kelly and David Jacobs had known each other since the second grade and Patrick Conlon and Tony Higgins knew each other since they were in diapers," he said when he asked him how long the group had been together.

"We all get along, though. It's not like any of us feels isolated or anything," the actor adds quickly.

"So what are the others like?"  _The World's_ Lucy Pulitzer asked.

"They're all really fun. Great to be around. Tony, he's older but he acts like he's five sometimes. He like to play pranks and try to make us laugh when we're in the studio. Davey's like the big brother. He'll make sure we're on track and wants to know how stuff is done and what the schedule for a week from now will look like. Patrick's, well, Patrick's Patrick. He's a really cool guy. He drives a motorcycle. Then there's Jack. There was this one time when we were at the mall and this group of girls came up to us and we all thought they had come to talk to me but they actually just wanted Jack's phone number," Dee laughed recounting the incident.

_"Who else is involved with the group?"_

"There's our manager, Camille Ouvrard. She handles everything. She's really strict. Our assistant manager, Joey O'Connor, she's Camille's daughter. Jo hangs out with us a lot so she's sort of like one of the boys. Then there's Medda Larkson is our vocal coach. She's very energetic. Brian Denton's our PR rep. He's a great guy, a little stiff sometimes."

We talked with the others too.

_What's it like working with Dee?_

"He's really fun to be around. One time we had all gone to the movies together and some of his fans came up to him and asked for his autograph. He told that they really should be getting all of our signatures instead. I thought that was really cool because we haven't even finished our record yet and he already has so much faith in this," David Jacobs said.

_What's it like being in a group that was put together?_

"Well, even though we were put together we still all had to hang out together before anything was final so it's not like we were forced to sign the contracts. We actually all get along and it's great that we don't know everything about each other because it'll show up in our recording. As we get more comfortable with each other it'll show in our music," Jack Kelly answered.

_What kind of music will be on the album?_

"There will be a mix of genres really. We have rock, hip hop, funk, reggae, R&B, stuff like that. It'll have songs that will sound a bit more peppier than others. It's a variety of things," Antonio Higgins informed us.

_How long do you think you'll last?_

"Well, we haven't even really started yet. It's not something you can declare. I could say we could last until 2014 but I'm not even sure I'll be alive then. A lot could happen," Patrick Conlon decided.

We think that they're a really cool group. They even gave us a private performance. If you know what's good for you you'll buy there album, 'Extra, Extra!' when it comes out. What's the name of the group you might be wondering? They're the Newz Boyz.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that was me expanding the universe a little. I think I'll have articles like this every time something mildly important is publicly announced. I'll have things posted on my Tumblr with the tag WR. The link is on my profile page. Review are welcomed especially constructive criticism. I'll also be having a little contest thingy where you can create your own celebrity who'll interact with the group. If they're musicians and you modeled them after some one don't forget to tell me.


	6. This is How it Really Goes

"Newz Boyz? Really?" Dee held up one of the many magazines containing an article on the group.

"Oh yeah, see there was this typo in the contract and we didn't notice for a while, then when we did it was to late. On the bright side you don't come off as a complete New Kids rip off." I put down the book I was reading.

"Is that what we are, a New Kids rip off?" David asked. Everyone was staring at me now. Man, why did I have to have a smart mouth.

"Well, no, you're also a Send In The Clones rip off but that one isn't so obvious," I responded.

"What!?" Danny looked up from his song writing notebook.

"Did I not tell you about that?"

"No!"

"Oh, now you know, I guess," I shrug and go back to reading. We were all sitting around in my mother's office. These passed few weeks have been awkward to say the least. Contrary to what the general public was lead to believe, the group hadn't been getting all chummy with one another. In fact, it was almost as though they were scared to mingle with one another. Jack and David would be in one corner whispering to each other, Tony and Patrick would be in the other, and Dee would be somewhere flirting with some one. Danny was right, this guy did need a good punch to the face.

"So Dee, how's Nicole?" I asked. Dee gave me a bewildered look.

"What?"

"Nicole, you know, pop princess, your girlfriend, I heard she was pulling a Tiffany and divorcing her dad," I point to a magazine cover. Man, those things could be handy. There on the cover of World Magazine June 1990 was a picture of a Mr. Dewitt Evans with his arm around a certain pop diva.

"How should I know?" he seemed irritated. I guess it was because they had only started dating after they had starred opposite each other in  _Shopping Spree._ Even though he didn't tell me I could clearly see he was annoyed by her.

"I was just asking," I mumbled and once again returned to my reading. The room slipped into another bout of awkward silence. Then Mom walked in.

"Boys, I have an announcement to make, it has come to my attention that you," she enforces her point by making sure to look each and every Newz Boy in the eyes, "have not be interacting like we hoped you would, so this week you're going to do all the things you've claimed to have done."

All of the group members groaned. It didn't make since seeing as they would be touring with each other, doing interviews together, and recording with each other. They had to start somewhere. As long as I didn't have to chaperone or anything like that, I was fine.

"Josephine, you'll be going along too," she turned to me and smirked almost as though she had read my mind and wanted to make me miserable.

"What, why?" I asked.

"Well, if you recall you are just like one of the guys," she crossed her arms.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think that was a crack at my appearance," I deadpanned.

"Today, go see a movie or something, I really like my job and how well you do affects whether I get to keep it or not."

We all get up, including Danny because when he's not recording he has nothing to do. While it would seem logical for him to hang out with  _his_ bandmates but they all had significant others so he always felt like the fifth wheel. We decided to go to the mall because why not. The car ride was awkward. I knew I had to have them at least all comfortable with each other by the end of the day or I was screwed. I had my work cut out for me.

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm trying to have people be based on other people yet coexist with that person. It proves to be difficult. So tell me what you think. Next chapter will feature everybody's favorite composite character, Katherine Pulitzer and her younger sister, Lucy (she did the article) in real life Lucy was older, but this is a fanfic :p I'll have 'pictures on my Tumblr. Reviews will get to be a part of the Newz Boyz devoted fan base. Just PM me with a name and a short description and I'll make sure your walls are plastered with Dee Evans and Jack Kelly posters.


End file.
